In late July the Wake Forest Police Department announced it would no longer provide the drop-off box to collect unused prescription and over-the-counter drugs that had been in the Brooks Street Substation at 221 Brooks Street.
The reason? “Officials made the decision to discontinue the drug collection unit due to the space required to store the considerable quantities of dropped-off medication prior to destruction.”
The announcement included a CVS website where residents could find another drop-off box nearby, but that website has been discontinued.
However, Wake County has a list of drop-off boxes on its website, all of them police stations and sheriff facilities. The Rolesville Police Department does have a drop-off box in the lobby at its station at 204 Southtown Circle, which is on the west side of South Main Street (U.S. 401) between Rogers Road to the north and Burlington Mills Road to the south. Also call 919-556-7226 for directions.
The drop-off box in Rolesville can accept pills or capsules only; no lotions, liquids or needles can be deposited there. The pills or capsules should be in their original bottles.
People can also inquire at their pharmacies if they accept unused pills or capsules.
As a precaution, use a marker or pen to black out the patient’s name, the doctor’s name and the prescription number. The unused pills are incinerated.
Remember, never flush prescription or over-the-counter medicines.
It does make one wonder how a small department like Rolesville can house a drop-off box in its lobby while Wake Forest says it does not have room to store all the unused drugs. Could they not call for faster pickup for incineration? The answer to that question was not received by press time.
5 Responses
We have free charging stations downtown for electric vehicles. We have a free bus loop. We have free downtown wi-fi. We have free downtown phone charging stations. With the continued challenge of the misuse of prescription drugs, we need the free drug drop off box. Find a way. Keep it. Call your commissioners and express your concerns.
With the opioid epidemic it would seem that the WFPD and the Town of WF would be proactive in providing for the destruction of unused meds. It not uncommon after trauma or surgery to have surplus pain meds. Disposing of them should be easy to reduce the likelihood of them being used in ways other than intended.
Our own Wake Forest Drug on Rogers Road has a collection box for prescription drugs.
Not anymore, that service has been discontinued.
The drug drop is obviously a valuable service used by our residents. The PD needs to find a way to accommodate it.